1. Field of Invention
In workshops having a multiplicity of working areas, e.g. a factory floor, a workshop floor or the like, and particularly in workshops in which the air is contaminated by work carried out in said work areas, for example welding operations, the treatment of dust-generating, fibrous or ill-smelling substances etc., it is necessary to introduce fresh air as close to the different working areas as possible, without mixing the fresh air with the contaminated workshop-air. The same holds true for warm working areas where cool air should be introduced. Those ventilation systems at present found in industrial workplaces are normally placed on a wall or the ceiling at a relatively long distance from the place where work is being carried out, which normally means that the fresh air is contaminated with the workshop air and/or heated before it reaches said working areas. This contamination of the air, together with the noise created, is one of the most serious features of a bad environment.
2. Description of Prior Art
Different types of air-supply systems for improving the ventilation of a working area for certain specific purposes are previously known to the art. The Swiss patent specification No. 536,468, the German published specification (DOS) No. 2,309,390 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,774,522 and 3,824,909 disclose examples of proposed arrangement for supplying to a "clean room" in a hospital or the like air which, for obvious reasons, is free from bacteria. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,909 and the Swiss patent specification No. 325,012 disclose two different arrangements for effectively supplying air to a working area via the ceiling thereof.
U.K. patent specification No. 10,687 describes supply of air to an audience room in a theatre via the backs of the seats in the room. The Published Swedish patent application No. 73 12613-8 describes an arrangement for supply of air combined with a heat emitting source. The Swedish Publication Verkstaderna, December 1973, page 657-658, describes supply of air to a factory floor into separate horizontal layers.
Previously there has also been proposed different types of screens for improving the environment in a workplace having a multiplicity of working areas, e.g. a factory floor, a workshop, open-plan offices or the like, at separate working areas. Such screens have as a rule a supporting or attaching means for fixed or movable placing or attachment on a floor, to a wall, a roof, another screen or the like.
The use of screens has been proposed for different purposes, for instance for absorbing sound generated in a working area, so that remaining parts of the workplace are screened from said working area or to screen and delimit different, adjacently lying working areas from each other and from noise created in said workplace.